Hobby Lobby coming to southwest Louisville

Look for a new Hobby Lobby in about a year in the Dixie Manor Shopping Center.

The new Hobby Lobby will be built where the now-closed Dixie Dozen Theaters and the soon -to-move KOI Auto store are located.

The building that houses them will be razed starting in a few weeks.

Hobby Lobby is a leader in the arts and crafts industry. It has three stores in metro Louisville. They are among the 558 stores the Oklahoma City-based company has across the country.

Hobby Lobby says it offers more than 67,000 crafting and home decor products in its stores.

"As far as Hobby Lobby coming in, I think it will be good for the mall," said KOI store manager Mike George, "I think it will be good for the neighborhood too."

Even though George's store will be torn down and he will have to move, he says that's OK.

"We are staying in the mall," he explained. "We are going to be moving down to the other side of the shopping center that has a lot more room for us to expand, so it's going to be a good deal."

The president of the Southwest Dream Team, a non-profit group that promotes economic development in southwest Louisville, also believes the coming of Hobby Lobby is a good thing for the area.

"I hate to lose a great entertainment venue like the Dixie Dozen," said Jarboe, "but it's great that Hobby Lobby is coming. It is a proven company; I think a lot of residents of southwest Louisville will like it. It is a plus."

Jarboe believes the area is on a bit of a roll.

He explains, "A few years ago, businesses were starting to trickle into the area. Now we are finding out almost monthly a new business would like to [locate in] southwest Jefferson County, so I think we are starting to build the house brick-by-brick, and the bricks are starting to come a little more frequently now."

Jarboe says the next brick is expected to be a new Chick-fil-A restaurant.

Meantime, demolition work is expected to begin in a couple of weeks with the new Hobby Lobby likely to open early in 2015.